Tomographic scanning is a non-invasive imaging technology for examining internal structures of creatures (in animal research, veterinary medicine, and medical diagnosis) and lifeless objects (in industrial screening technology), hereinafter referred to as objects under test. A conventional tomographic scanning apparatus is typically equipped with a light/radiation source (which emits X-ray, gamma ray, visible light beams, or laser light beams, for example) and a detector. Tomographic scanning entails scanning an object under test with the light/radiation source, retrieving projection-related data of the object under test from different angles of view, performing image computation and reconstruction, and eventually identifying how constituent elements of the object under test are distributed therein (that is, producing sectional images of the object under test.)
The operation and dedicated movement mechanism of a conventional tomographic scanning apparatus are designed to meet a single need. That is to say, a specific tomographic scanning apparatus is characterized by its specific scanning operation and its specific purpose, thereby resulting in specialization of tomographic scanning apparatuses. Hence, there are commercially available special tomographic scanning apparatuses, such as dental tomographic scanning apparatuses, mammo-tomographic scanning apparatuses, vertical thoracic synthesized tomography scanning apparatuses, and industrial noninvasive tomographic scanning apparatuses. As a result, once the hardware mechanisms of the tomographic scanning apparatuses are designed and put into production, they can only perform scanning in the specific mode only. To suit a change in application, a wide-ranging change or re-design of the hardware mechanisms of the tomographic scanning apparatuses is possible, albeit incurring a discouragingly huge amount of costs.